Dark Gaia Phoenix

From Sonic Retro

The Dark Gaia Pheonix is the boss of Dragon Road Night Act 1, in the Chun-nan region of Sonic Unleashed. It is a pheonix with darkly colored feathers in shades of black and purple, and is covered in flames. It has a few methods of attack, such as landing on the middle of the ground and sending out a shockwave, shooting quills that home on to the player, and flying quickly from one side of the stage to the other.

General

To defeat the Dark Gaia Pheonix, the player must grab a vase of water located upon an elevated platform, lock on to the Dark Gaia Pheonix, and throw the vase of water at it. Upon doing so, depending on the progress in the fight, the flames of the Pheonix will be put out, and it will rest upon an elevated platform for a short period of time, in which case the player is able to attack the Pheonix, and eventually resulting in a Quick-Time-Event method of fight. After the Dark Gaia Pheonix has been defeated, and the village elder Zonshen has been rescued, a cutscene plays where Sonic the Werehog and Chip enter the Temple of Gaia to restore the red Chaos Emerald and the Chun-nan continent.

Unlike the other Dark Gaia minions fought in Unleashed, the Phoenix is not itself a piece of Dark Gaia, but an independent creature that has simply been possessed - much like the despairing humans and, indeed, Sonic the Werehog himself. Upon exiting the Temple, they find the Dark Gaia Pheonix with brightly colored feathers, and discover that when the Chaos Emeralds lost their power, the Dark Gaia Pheonix went beserk. With the energy to the Chaos Emerald restored, the Dark Gaia Pheonix accepts some chocolate from Chip, and returns to it's perch upon the Temple.

Vases of Water

The number of vases of water required to fully douse the flames of the Dark Gaia Phoenix increases every time it's health bar is emptied. At the start of the boss fight, one vase of water is required. Afterwards, two vases are required. And the third time, three vases are required. The vases spawn periodically, usually a small amount of time after all vases are used. In the Wii/PS2 version, these vases are replaced by barrels of water, which spawn almost instantly after one has been destroyed.